The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 said on Thursday that 12,5000 out of the 66,000 prospective corps members for the 2020 Batch B mobilisation had so far undergone test for the disease.

The National Coordinator of the PTF, Sani Aliyu, said this at the taskforce’s briefing in Abuja.

“We have commenced the process of testing corps members. In fact, we have already tested more than 12,5000 NYSC corps members so far using Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit test with confirmatory PCR,” he said.

Aliyu reminded international graduates who would be travelling into the country for the exercise of the need to undergo the seven days compulsory self-isolation before going into the NYSC orientation camp.

Aliyu, who advised against non-essential international travels during the pandemic, warned that the Federal Government would not relax the COVID-19 protocols during the upcoming Christmas holidays.

He said, “We know that we are going into the Christmas period. The PTF is already looking at steps to minimise the surge in passengers’ numbers we see during this period.”

Aliyu recalled that of the first 5,000 plus passengers tested on arrival into the country after international flights resumed, about 105 of them tested positive for the virus.

He said with about 5,000 to 7,000 passengers arriving the country everyday “the potential is that we could have up to 150 new cases being introduced into the country everyday.”

Speaking about the looting of the warehouses of COVID-19 palliatives in different parts of the country during the #EndSARS protests, Aliyu said the donation by CACOVID had reached 95 per cent before the incident.

He said, “We can confirm that the donation initiative is currently 95 per cent complete, even though we have seen a lot of looting of some of the warehouses under the state governments. State governments that have received their donations are responsible for the distribution of these palliatives to their local govt areas.”

Also, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, raised fears about the mental state of health of the survivors of COVID – 19.

He said, “The PTF is still very much concerned about the mental health of survivors of the COVID-19 virus. In this regard the PTF is following reports from researches around the world regarding the state of psychiatric health of survivors and has intensified plans for in-country response under the treatment and post-treatment regimes.”

The SGF said that the global cases crossed the 52 million mark with United States, India and Brazil accounting for 48 per cent of all global cumulative burden.

The PTF chairman added that South Africa accounted for 38 percent of total cases in Africa; with up from 50 percent as of September and Nigeria now ranked 6th down in Africa, warning that the nation should not let the guards down for a second wave. (The Punch)

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